(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lights, and more particularly to vehicular lights providing a wide angle radiation pattern for area illumination. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved devices of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In light systems employed on emergency vehicles, such as police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, and the like, it is frequently desirable to incorporate lights which can effectively illuminate a wide area such as the scene of an emergency situation. Area illumination lights incorporating reflectors and lenses of various styles and configurations have been incorporated into emergency vehicle light systems for a number of years. While conventional wide angle area illumination lights have proven advantageous, there are a number of drawbacks to conventional area illumination lights. Some of the prior art lights of the type to which the invention relates are relatively expensive to manufacture. Additional deficiencies of conventional prior art area illumination lights reside in the absence of effective illumination coverage and proper directional transmission of radiation from the lights.
There are a multitude of prior art light assemblies which employ reflectors and lens elements of various configurations for effectively spreading and directing the radiation generated by a light emitter to obtain a suitable radiation pattern. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,964 discloses a vehicular light having prismatic elements with flutes superposed on the prismatic elements for spreading the light from the lamp. A number of prior art light assemblies employ prismatic lens elements and flute-like or rib-like optical spreaders for obtaining various light distribution patterns. Likewise, there are a number of reflectors of various configurations which employ multiple reflecting surfaces for generally directing radiation forwardly through lens elements to achieve wide angle radiation patterns.
Copending U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 337,915, filed on Apr. 14, 1989, titled: "Warning Light With Quadruple Reflective Surfaces" and U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 312,479, filed on Feb. 21, 1989 and titled: "Light With Wide Angle Radiation Pattern", both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose reflector elements for wide angle warning lights which employ a pair of light sources. In addition, the vehicular lights of the copending applications may employ optical spreader elements to disperse the radiation incident on the lens to obtain the desired light distribution pattern.